Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 228 - 227 Wonderful Time Management

Five minutes before the exam, Lin Yujing and Li Zheng finally entered their respective examination halls, panting heavily.

Since the other candidates had already taken their seats, they naturally became the center of attention.

Lin Yujing held her pencil case, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Li Zheng carried a basketball, his pectoral muscles heaving.

This presence naturally shocked everyone in the preliminaries.

To exercise just before the exam?

This time management was impeccable!

It also happened by coincidence that Duan Peipei was in the same examination room as Li Zheng, and Qi Yingnan was with Lin Yujing.

Both immediately got up to greet them.

Actually, a simple wave would have been enough.

But who didn’t want to put on a show?

In front of everyone at the preliminaries, it felt good to recognize each other as experts, discussing the world of Physics Competitions.

Duan Peipei quickly approached Li Zheng and pointed to an empty desk in the middle row, "Sit there, hurry up."

"Oh, thanks," Li Zheng placed the basketball down and walked over leisurely.

"Um..." Duan Peipei followed up, "Do you want to compare answers after the exam?"

"No need, it’s just half an hour," Li Zheng said with a light smile, "Besides, it’s not necessary to compare answers for this type of question."

"..."

Duan Peipei was embarrassed, while the others in the preliminaries secretly clenched their teeth.

Because of arrogance and disdain, wasn’t it common to see people fail miserably?

Fall, fall, let’s see a downfall!

In another examination hall, Qi Yingnan came forward to take Lin Yujing’s bag, "Yu Jing, you sit over there."

"Um..." Lin Yujing withdrew her hand and sized him up, "You are... Who are you again?"

"Ah." Qi Yingnan was stunned, "I... I’m Yingnan... from Jinghua training..."

Lin Yujing thought for a long time before hesitantly asking, "Zhang Yingnan?"

"..." Qi Yingnan lowered his head in disappointment, "Never mind... as long as you’re happy..."

"Wang Yingnan?"

"Enough already, there’s no need for elimination using all family names," Qi Yingnan asserted firmly, "How about, we compare answers after the exam?"

Lin Yujing hastily shook her head and took a few steps back.

Qi Yingnan looked helplessly at Lin Yujing, "I... I’m not a bad guy, not a stranger... we’ve worked on experiments together..."

"Um..."

...

Soon after, the invigilators entered, and as the bell rang, the papers were distributed, and the preliminaries officially began.

This time, the Jijing Physics Association set the questions themselves, with a total score of 150, over a test duration of two hours.

For those who had truly prepared seriously for over a year, the preliminaries were naturally not too difficult; they only needed to perform steadily to advance to the next round, and the ranking didn’t matter.

From past experiences, the number of registrants for the preliminaries was typically between 5,000–8,000.

Approximately 800 would advance to the semifinals, meaning the top 10% to 15%.

This figure also roughly matched the number of students who had seriously prepared for more than a year.

Due to the rise of various competition training classes in recent years, the difficulty of advancing for those who were self-taught had been increasingly high, additionally hindered by elite schools’ competition classes. It had become nearly impossible to break through on sheer genius, as one might have a decade ago.

But the majority of those who actually came to the exam were still not those who had prepared so desperately.

There was no helping it; the allure of physics was too great.

Indeed, a significant number of students had not invested much effort in physics yet still managed to score high in regular exams, becoming top students in their schools or classes.

For such talents, attending the Physics Competitions was a good opportunity to test their own level and gain experience.

The difficulty of the preliminary questions was just right for them.

If the difficulty of a high school physics exam was 1.

Then the difficulty of the preliminaries was 2.

The semifinals were roughly 20 in difficulty.

The final round was 50 in difficulty.

It was a very steep curve.

Those who hadn’t prepared diligently hardly knew how terrifying this curve could be.

As they attempted the preliminary paper, they were simply ignited by a spark of hope.

"It’s not as difficult as I imagined..."

"I should be able to pass."

"Hmph, it’s just a few more major questions than the college entrance exam."

"Seriously, I could even win a provincial award..."

"Hehe, I love physics, I love challenging problems..."

Just as these thoughts emerged from their minds.

Whoosh!

A man raised his hand swiftly like a gust of wind.

Every time he did this, the teacher would come over with concern and then ask.

"Hurry up, do you need paper?"

However, not once did this man need to go to the bathroom.

Li Zheng asked softly, "Teacher, may I turn in my test now?"

"..." The female proctor glanced at Li Zheng’s uniform, lifted her glasses, and reluctantly smiled.

Indeed, every year there were top physics students from regular schools, who came to challenge the physics competition and invariably returned home defeated.

Unfortunately, these top students from regular schools are just ordinary in top-tier schools.

This young man from Lake Ying, it seems he knows he can’t do it, can’t bear the torment, and wants to leave early, I guess.

The proctor, being an excellent core teacher at Normal University Affiliated High School, naturally had a few words to say.

"Don’t give up easily, student," the teacher encouraged, "Try harder, think more, it’s not that difficult."

"Yes, of course it’s not difficult, so this time it’s not about the score…" Li Zheng looked up at the clock, extremely anxious, "It’s about speed."

"Ah?"

"No time to explain, can I turn in my test or not?"

"If you really insist on turning it in… then go ahead…"

"Thank you, Teacher." Li Zheng hurriedly handed his test to the teacher, then got up, quickly packed his stationery, and dashed out of the exam hall in a few strides.

The preliminary contestants were astounded, looked up at the clock, and couldn’t help but chuckle.

41 minutes.

It had only been 41 minutes.

What a joke.

Even if one didn’t think and just copied answers, it would still take at least ten to twenty minutes.

Not to mention all the calculations and derivations involved.

He clearly gave up on the exam, and yet he had made it seem so believable before.

Impressive, he really knows how to act.

Only Duan Peipei was extremely nervous.

She knew very well that Li Zheng must be confident in getting all the answers correct to turn in his paper so early.

And as for herself, although also quite confident, she had only completed half of it.

Months without seeing him… Li Zheng has become even more extreme…

The two proctors shook their heads and picked up Li Zheng’s paper, casually looking it over.

The more they looked, the more their expressions changed.

It was completely filled out!

"Teacher Qian, you teach physics…" the female teacher whispered softly, "the answers to this question…"

"I can’t find any faults…" The male teacher quickly flipped through the pages, directly to the last question, and sighed as he read, "This kind of person… should just go directly to the finals… It’s not a question of whether he can pass, but whether he can score perfectly…"

"Ah?" the female teacher exclaimed, "Isn’t he from Lake Ying?"

"From Lake Ying?" The male teacher suddenly slapped his forehead, "A sophomore?"

"Probably…"

"Then it’s clear." The male teacher exclaimed, "Don’t you know? At the end of last semester, he dominated the top two spots in the district-wide exams, and he even scored a perfect score in physics…"

"I remember that… At the time, I didn’t quite believe it, thinking that the education commission had leaked the exam questions…"

"You believe it now, don’t you?... It’s not likely that the Physics Association would leak questions too, is it?"

"Not impossible, though…"

"..."

After leaving the classroom, Li Zheng immediately rushed toward the staircase to intercept someone at Room 13.

However, just as he took two steps, he saw someone sitting on the stairs, lightly pursing their lips and shaking their head—

"Trash~~~~"

"Fuck!" Li Zheng yelped in anger, slamming his thigh, "It’s all because my teacher dilly-dallied. That cost me at least 15 seconds."

"I’ve been waiting for three minutes now~~"

"Bullshit, you just sat down."

"Then go check the surveillance footage~~"

"Boring..." Li Zheng sighed, then asked, "Basketball?"

"Again?"

"The playground at Normal University Affiliated School is pretty good. Let’s play a little longer."

Lin Yujing mumbled, looking down, "But I’m kind of hungry..."

"Hey, it’s not even lunchtime yet. Eat more at noon."

"Eat... what?"

Li Zheng burst out laughing, "Why are you asking me? Ask your mom."

"No more playing! I’m going home! Trash!"

Although he said that, Li Zheng still managed to coax Lin Yujing into playing a bit more.

As those who hadn’t finished their exams heard the basketball and laughter on the playground.

Girl: "Keep away from me!"

Boy: "Isn’t it nice to have some contact defense to create some challenge?"

Girl: "Not nice, it stinks!"

Boy: "I stink?"

Girl: "Stink!"

Boy: "You haven’t taken Teacher Tang’s Chinese class, have you?"

Girl: "Huh? That... is Teacher Tang? I thought it was Jiang Qinghua..."

Boy: "Qinghua is very clean. Xiaoke smells even stronger than him."

Girl: "You also know what Xiaoke smells like?"

Hearing this was infuriating.

More than one person felt like raising their hand.

Teacher... please make them stop...

This time management... I just can’t learn it...

How am I supposed to continue in this competition!

...

After the exams, the teachers from each exam room gathered, sealed the sorted papers with names, loaded them into a truck, and also started chatting.

A male teacher exclaimed, "There was a girl in our room who finished in 40 minutes... and she wrote everything down."

The female teacher beside him just smiled, "Hey, it must be Lin Yujing."

"Ah? How do you know?"

"You don’t know about those two from Lake Ying with scores over 730? Li Zheng was in our room, handed it in 41 minutes."

"Oh, I see... the pair that went to play basketball on the playground afterward, right?"

"Exactly." The female teacher shook her head and chuckled, "For students of their caliber, dating actually seems to help their grades. It’s really magical..."

"That’s what you say..." the male teacher lamented, "but for the other students... isn’t it a disaster?"

The two discussed as the head of the examination team loaded the papers into the truck.

"The questions this year were too easy, weren’t they?" the head doubted, looking back, "The fastest we had was 40 minutes to finish, right? Not someone who gave up, but someone who answered everything, right?"

"Yeah, there was another who took 41 minutes," the female teacher replied.

"Then it must have been too easy," the head pondered, shaking his phone, "At the Haidian site, there was someone who finished in 33 minutes."

"???"

"Impossible. Can’t even copy that fast, can they?"

"Who knows..." the head shook his head, "If it really was because the questions were too simple, then it’s about who had the most straightforward solution, who could see through the questions at first glance."

"Teacher Lv, I’ve looked at that paper," the male teacher said with a bitter smile, "It’s not simple. There were a lot of registrations this year, and they deliberately increased the difficulty."

The head waved his hand and watched the van drive away, saying, "That just shows, it’s a big year for physics in Jijing."

"Wasn’t last year already a big year?" the male teacher pursed his lips, "Wasn’t having Wu Shu big enough?"

"Hard to say, this year might be even bigger."

"Geniuses really do flock together..." the female teacher mused, "On the chemistry side, we just had an ICho participant emerge, rumored to be the most promising champion in years."

"That’s a good thing, a really good thing," the head said excitedly, "We’ve been working on basic education and competitions for so many years, finally about to see a burst of talent, isn’t that wonderful? By the way, when is the ICho? I’ll let my students watch."

"Around May Day, the 50th anniversary, returning to Prague, it’s worth watching."

"Alright, alright, what was the name of our contestant again?"

"Shi Yang."

"Haha, doesn’t the name just sound like a champion?"

...

In the world of Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, preliminaries were of course a non-event.

About a week later, the news that both had passed the preliminaries had already come, even Tao Feifei was too lazy to notify them.

It was Shi Yang, however, who was extremely excited, bragging about how he had randomly solved a few problems and made it to the next round. The real pros from the Physics Association naturally didn’t care to pay him any mind; those who failed to advance were already cursing him.

During the review before the semifinals, Li Zheng also began to gradually reduce the time allocated to physics, instead increasing emphasis on mathematics.

It’s not that physics competitions require a high level of mathematics.

It’s mainly that there was less and less for him to learn...

After all, by this time, his physics had already reached a score of 339.

Compared to the national champion score in chemistry, it was only a single-digit difference.

To study more would really mean having to delve into graduate-level specializations.

It’s not that he wasn’t willing to learn; after all, Li Zheng still wanted to save that knowledge for the next phase of his studies.

In such an atmosphere, the semifinals were almost upon them.

April 20th, in front of City First School.

The same scene was replayed.

That school-uniform-clad hunk, he was back again.

Li Zheng, standing with his hands behind his back in front of the school gates, looking at the banner "36th Physics Competition Jijing Semifinals Exam Site," couldn’t help but reminisce about his first venture into the Chem Competitions.

Time flies; that was already half a year ago.

His initial goal was to win a prize.

It gradually evolved into representing the provincial team.

Then it became representing the country.

And now,

though he was at a competition site,

his sights were set far beyond the stars—

He wanted to "play house" throughout the entire Solar System.

To say it out loud...

Ah, it feels so embarrassing.

In that familiar stance, the familiar jabbing at the waist came again.

Li Zheng felt a pain at his waist, and hastily dodged away cursing, "Don’t always poke there, it’s easy to get hurt."

"It’s hard to resist poking you..." Lin Yujing said disdainfully as she looked at Li Zheng, "Why is your face so red, what are you thinking? Are you really getting physiological reactions just from thinking about the exam? That’s just too freakish."

"When did you become so talkative? Can’t you just be quiet?"

"Quiet?"

"Yeah, just like that."

As they were speaking, a slightly chubby buzz-cut came barrelling over.

"I’m gonna tackle you now!" Shi Yang laughed as he lunged at Li Zheng.

Li Zheng, looking disgusted, shook him off: "Go away, go away, don’t dirty my uniform."

"Haha!" Shi Yang landed and, upon seeing Lin Yujing, instantly became shy again, "I... I only found out later that you were Lin Yujing... I thought you were that other girl before."

"???" Lin Yujing, failing to understand, asked, "What are you talking about?"

"It’s when we were training for the team, there was a girl who came to our room and was getting cozy with Li Zheng... "

"!!!" Li Zheng crashed over in anger, "Don’t talk nonsense about your mother!!!"

"Let him speak!!" Lin Yujing quickly intervened.

Li Zheng hurriedly explained, "It was during that Chem Competitions camp, Zhang Xiaoke came to visit and brought some materials, you know."

"I know," Lin Yujing coldly glared at Shi Yang, "but in the dormitory... "

Shi Yang shuddered at her icy stimulus.

Turning to look at Li Zheng, he was scorched by his blazing gaze.

Did he speak out of turn again?

After all, in this world, no matter how high your EQ, there’s always someone higher.

And no matter how low, there’s always someone lower.